THIS invention relates to an underwater mining machine of the type used to recover mineral bearing deposits from the sea bed or other underwater location
Underwater mining machines are adapted to gather material from the seabed and transport the material to a processing vessel operating on the surface. The mining machine is generally unmanned and will be controlled by an operator situated on the vessel who is provided with control information from sensors, on board cameras, and other information gathering devices located on the mining machine.
Prior art machines are described in, for example, the specifications of South African patent nos. 95/7262 and 92/6858.
In many underwater mining situations the material to be recovered from the seabed is either covered by an overburden of hard or compacted material, or is itself relatively homogenous and compacted and therefore needs to be broken up before it can be transported to the surface. Diamond bearing gravels, for example, are often covered by an overburden of sand and rock which makes recovery of the gravels that much more problematic.
Prior art machines have not always had the capability of effectively or efficiently dealing with a deep overburden or rock outcrop of any significant size or hardness. Also, prior art machines in attempting to break up the overburden often leave an uneven track on which the machine must travel causing problems with the forward movement of the machine and also decreasing the efficiency of the gathering process.